The present invention relates to apparatus for and a method of detonating mines.
After wars it is often difficult to locate precisely active mines, particularly those mines distributed indiscriminately by retreating armies. Some four hundred million mines have been sold throughout the world with various estimates to the exact numbers in place (The United Nations estimate 100 million). Most mine detection and destruction equipment has been developed for the military. This equipment is designed mainly to allow armies to breach mine files quickly. To this end, the military accepts that all mines will not be destroyed by the equipment and a certain number of casualties may result.
Furthermore the methods used to detect and destroy mines cause considerable damage to the local environment. While this damage may be acceptable to the military it is not acceptable to civilian administrations. The use of military equipment to clear mines also adds considerably to the costs.
At present the only way to ensure a high level of clear up rate is for people to prod the ground carefully with sticks until they locate a mine which can then be defused. This procedure to say the least is hazardous and slow. In Afghanistan it is estimated that this clearance method will take at least another hundred years to clear existing mines. Add to this the need to identify the boundaries of the relevant minefields and the time element is further increased.
For Non-Government-Organizations (NGO's) to use military equipment is often outside their budget and as previously stated the equipment does not give a high enough success rate.
GB 2 132 567A describes vibration apparatus for mine disposal. The vibration apparatus is mounted by an arm to a powering vehicle, the arm being in two portions joined by frangible means which separate in the event of an explosion.